Surgical site infection and ileus were the most frequent reason for hospital readmission within 30 days, according to an analysis of data from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.
The findings, published online in the Feb. 3 JAMA, suggest that policies that penalize hospitals for readmissions may be ineffective and potentially counterproductive.
Dr. Karl Y. Bilimoria of Northwestern University, Chicago, and his colleagues examined patient data from 346 hospitals participating in the American College of Surgeon’s National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) between January 2012 and December 2012. Readmission rates and reasons were assessed for all surgical procedures and for six representative operations: bariatric surgery, colectomy or proctectomy, hysterectomy, total hip or knee arthroplasty, ventral hernia repair, and lower extremity vascular bypass (JAMA 2015;313;483-95 [doi:10.1001/jama.2014.18614]).
Of the 498, 875 patient sample, the overall readmission rate was 5.7%. For individual procedures, the readmission rate ranged from 3.8% for hysterectomy to 14.9% for lower extremity vascular bypass.
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Only 2% of patients were readmitted for the same complication they had experienced during their initial hospitalization.
The most common reason for readmission was surgical site infection (SSI; 19.5%), ranging from 11.4% after bariatric surgery to 36.4% after lower extremity vascular bypass. Ileus was the most common reason for readmission after bariatric surgery (24.5%) and the second most common reason overall (10.3%). Other common causes for readmission included dehydration or nutritional deficiency, bleeding or anemia, venous thromboembolism, and prosthesis or graft issues (after arthroplasty and lower extremity vascular bypass procedures). Only 2% of patients were readmitted for the same complication they had experienced during their index hospitalization. Just 3% of patients readmitted for SSIs had experienced an SSI during their index hospitalization.
The results show readmissions after surgery may not be an appropriate measure for pay-for-performance and cost-containment programs, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, Dr. Bilimoria said. Performance targets without accepted courses of intervention might be more prone to unintended or ineffective behaviors and consequences, he noted.
“Surgical readmissions mostly reflect postdischarge complications, and readmission rates may be difficult to reduce until effective strategies are put forth to reduce common complications such as SSI,” he said. “Efforts should focus on reducing complication rates overall than simply those that occur after discharge, and this will subsequently reduce readmission rates as well.”
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